A former leader in Kip McKean's newest cult talks about lies, corruption, hypocrisy, and abuse in the ICC "El Ministerio Latino"

Mar 6, 2014

The International College of Christian Ministry (ICCM)

Well, it seemed amazing that the International Christian Churches could set up a whole university in a couple of weeks, and even decorate founder Kip McKean with a doctorate degree almost as quickly.

How did they do it? Easy!

IT'S. NOT. ACCREDITED!

That means, any "degrees" it issues are COMPLETELY IMAGINARY and not worth a 5 cents. The ICCM is NOT A REAL SCHOOL.

It did seem a bit suspicious that Kip could earn a Ph.D. without going through the normal years-long process of research, writing a thesis, getting it reviewed by a panel of Ph.D.'s, defending the thesis, etc.

"We have been given an accreditation exemption from the state of California and therefore the degrees we offer are under no accrediting boards, save our own. Any degree/credential given by our seminary would be accepted only within our family of churches. Our Bachelor's degree would not, for example, be transferable or serve as a pre-requisite to another seminary's Master's degree program." (Bolding mine).

I wonder how much they are charging the members for these excellent services?

Interestingly, the above email seems to contradict the message currently on its Facebook page: "At present [the ICCM] confers the degrees of Bachelors, Masters and Doctorates in Ministry."

Omitting the tiny detail that the "degrees" are 100% WORTHLESS everywhere except in their church of 2,000. You have a doctorate degree - because Kip McKean SAYS you have a graduate degree! And in the ICC, that's what matters most.

But they are, like, a totally real, and awesome - AWESOME - school! They even have, like, their own web site! Well, not like a real website, but, you know, like a whole Facebook page and everything! That's, like, totally legit!

32 comments:

I thought I read in one of the ICC's Good News Bulletins that they are charging students 6K to attend the ICCM?!? I guess Kip and his cronies aren't making enough on Special Missions in April and November, jubilees, conferences, Women's Days and countless retreats in between that members are required to attend and pay for out of pocket. I wonder how much kick back the "DYNAMIC" (per Kip's description) ICCM board/staff are getting? Maybe it's time we start asking Michael Kirchner, Andrew Smellie, Chris Adams, Helen Sullivan, Kyle Bartholomew and Tim Kernan what they're being paid.

Six thousand a year for a fake degree! You can join the Universal Life Church and get a Doctor of Divinity degree for $30.00. I did that once just to see what it was like. It is a piece of paper and absolutely worthless.Prior to this, I went to a real ATS accredited seminary (actually 3 of them over a period of 10 years). It was hard. There is nothing easy about REAL graduate level work. Learning Koine Greek is hard. Studying the history of theology is hard. Learning the flow of church history is hard. So Kip has decided to forego the hard work, award himself a Doctorate of Ministry (D.Min.) degree, and sell the other degrees at 6K per year. If you go 4 years to get a BA. That is 24K for a piece of paper which will mean nothing outside the LA Kip Church (or his family of churches). Thanks, but real degrees require study and sacrifice by accredited institutions and professors who actually know something.

Cryptoreformer, by the way, I have not heard of any degree there taking over 12 months. Many degrees have been issued without even taking any classes at all! That includes Kip McKean and others. That is one of the benefits of not being accredited and putting appearances over substance - you can make your own rules and obtain "results" much quicker and more easily.

Correction to the above...it's 6K a year. Found the info on the ICCM Facebook page. Member (Beach Eastwood) asks how much the ICCM course is and the site administrator responded with 6K per year payable by cash or check and then suggests that Beach get a sponsor to help pay the cost. According to the recent Good News e-mail, there are 80 students currently enrolled. This means Kip and his "Dynamic" ICCM staff are pulling in almost half a MILLION dollars for this bogus school. WOW!!!

And I also happy to live near Andrew Smellie. Sorry to bring any disappointment to the conspiracy theorists but he's not rolling in the "dough" or living lavishly. We hang out quite a bit and I myself have been curious about financial management in the ICC having read a lot about past issues in the ICOC.

Thanks for commenting. For the record, do you know exactly how much Andrew Smellie makes? (I am guessing that you do not, as "the church" has always worked to keep that information as hidden as possible.)

Sometimes we can learn a bit from history. For example, Steve Johnson used to drive around an old car, and it certainly didn't give the impression that he was making big money. However, at the time he was pulling in something like $300,000 per year in compensation from the church.

For the moment, the relatively low membership of the ICC means that there is less money to pay the evangelists. Whatever Andrew's current salary, it will continue to grow as the church grows in number. So go out there and share your faith! And don't forget to give your contribution! ;P

"The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good." Psalm 36:3

The ICCM is Kip's attempt to bring credibility to his church leaders. Many of whom lack any type of formal education. Some barely finished high school. By creating the non-accredited ICCM, Kip gives the impression that his leaders are college educated. Of further concern, in an article written by Kip about the ICCM, many of his evangelists/women ministry leaders had to pay a "small fee" of $300.00 to receive a BA from the ICCM without having to actually complete any courses (http://www.caicc.net/2013/02/04/the-international-college-of-christian-ministry/) while non-ministry leaders are required to pay 6K?!?

For those concerned parents whose children have dropped out of an actual accredited university to enroll in the ICCM, please contact the following leaders who boast they have a degree from the ICCM:

Interesting tid-bit: As children, all three of Kip's kids went to private school and then onto graduate from Ivy League schools. Do you think Kip would have encouraged his children to drop out of Harvard and Stanford to attend the ICCM?

Thanks for commenting. It's also interesting to me to see ICC members vehemently assert that the ICCM is fully accredited, and claim that to say otherwise is persecution or slander or something of the like. It seems pretty clear that the image that is presented by leadership is that the ICCM is a real, accredited school, which it is not.

peter paul and luke and crew in paradise must be like what in the planet. How can anyone dare to claim to the truth and have the gall to become president. would jesus ever want a title or credit? no way man! Humble its the peoples truth and they should be able to question false teachings in the school. lets say topic of divorce and remarriage

Well, anecdotally, I know of one non-ICC member who tried to enroll in the ICCM. The ICCM contact person tried to convert the potential student to membership in the International Christian Church. When this potential student insisted that he was already a Christian, the ICCM rep then dissuaded him from enrolling. So, it seems that in practice, the International College of Christian Ministry is only open to members of Kip McKean's International Christian Church.

Some of the material is available online, rife with misspellings and grammatical errors and all (and for a Master's level class, no less). The material that is presented as "Master's" is approximately easy first-year introductory material from a "real," accredited school.

Actually the salaries of each of the evangelists is easy to find out. You can simply ask one of them to see a bank statement. Also if you're curious about how the church spends its money, attend any one of their churches financial workshops. They are held in November every year in every one of their churches on the same day.

Welcome, current ICC member! Let me ask, have you ever actually found out the salary of an evangelist? No? Please tell me much do they make, in real, hard numbers. NO ICC church publishes this information, or even makes it available. Why would this be? Because if people knew how much of their contribution went to ministry salary and benefits, there would be a huge backlash, and ICC members would rightfully question the constant pressure to donate and sacrifice their own money. Why sacrifice your money to the max just so your ministry leader can live a lifestyle that you will never, ever afford? (PS, I have been to the financial meetings that you mentioned, and they DO NOT tell you how much the evangelist earns.)

I was also an ICC member the sad part is ICC is just like the old ICOC, the difference is that Kip has become more controlling after what happened to ICOC, he wants to make sure it does not happen to him again. He talks about the ICOC in all his preaching calling them the old movement, remnants, fall -aways. You have to be restored to God and apologies to the church if you were a member of ICOC and want to join ICC. I don't see any Godlyness in that man and the people he is training are just like him.

They forced us to give 15% of tithe and 4times your monthly contribution every year. If you cannot, they preach about it and call you for meetings and tell you you need to come up with that money or cut your expenses. They treat you different if you don't come up with that money, they treat you as though you have committed a crime. People sell their properties and move in to live 5 people in a one bedroom apartment so that you can give the money to church. They read scriptures like "obey your leaders" if you don't have the cash. Yes I left ICC, false teaching and mind control and manipulation just like the old ICOC. It's very sad what Kip is doing to so many people seeking God.

If it is a religious studies program, in our state of Washington, a church's education out-reach has every right to offer and grant diplomas in only the area of studies that represent their beliefs. So a religious institute can offer degrees in Biblical Studies, Theology, Ministry and the like. If they state on their web site or in their information packets that their degrees are not transferable, yet the student finds their course work suits their needs - then there is no harm done. It is not fraud, because they were upfront about their accreditation status. Any religious education institute can grant Honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees. There is no earned Doctor of Divinity degree. I did a lot of research in our state because one of my clients wanted to expand his ministry of 50 years to include an education out-reach. WA: RCW 28B.85.040Completion of program of study prerequisite to degree — Application of chapter. ( http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=28B.85.040 )

In Oregon, the state that has the strictest accreditation laws states this: http://www.oregonstudentaid.gov/oda-exempt-status-religious-exempt.aspx

"Religious Exempt SchoolsSchools with a Religious Exemption are permitted by statute to offer specific degrees with exclusively religious titles approved by the ODA, but they need not meet all state academic standards. To qualify for an exemption, the school must meet requirements in ORS 348.594, as shown in 2005 advance sheets Chapter 546. Beyond those criteria, the state assumes no responsibility for the quality of these programs."

So religious organizations are allowed to grant degrees. It is up to the school and each individual state to determine what is legal and what is not. If they give a full disclosure of their accreditation status, then it is up to the student to attend or not to attend, weighing the factors and the course studies.

The Independent Baptists have a number of "Bible Colleges," one of the foremost being West Coast Baptist College. While their degrees mean nothing in the real world either, they do have a fairly rigorous curriculum. I have spoke to a couple of graduates and they actually got a pretty decent education. Just like Kip's college, they charge the big bucks, but they actually do get some financial benefit in that it gives them some "jack" when they go to an Independent Baptist Church. Interestingly enough, Independent Baptist Churches are completely autonomous.

Don't fret...do we trust that Jesus knows all about this? Then we know Kip will be held accountable for all the damage he has done and is doing in Jesus' name. Jesus is your Personal Advocate if you have been hurt by Kip. Kip was raised up to be destroyed. He is an object of God's wrath for what he does. Take solace that Jesus enlightened you to Kip's evil ways and that He will not stand to be misrepresented. Judgment is near for these deceivers who profit from their false gospel. Take heart...salvation is near for you!!

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